Top Summer Camp Position Filled With Top Notch Leader


JANUARY 9, 2017 CYO/CAMP HOWARD–Anna McLean will step into the position of Program Director at Camp Howard for the 2017 summer camping season.  Camp administration is pleased to name this position early in the year and look forward to working with her this summer.  The Program Director is seen through the eyes of the summer campers as the “Camp Director”.  That goal of the administrative staff behind the scenes such as Nora Gravengaard (Camp Director), Shawna King (Asst. Camp Director, Leila Blakely, (Health and Safety Director), Jolie Abraham Phanton, (CYO Office Liason), Karen von Borstel, (Camp Howard Property Director), and Sister Krista (Exec. Director) is to promote the youth in the Catholic Youth Organization to leadership roles.

McLean who has been a summer camper, Counselor in Training and on the summer staff for multiple years, brings a lot of “can do” to her role.  She has been around the camp for many years and has a thorough understanding of what works.

Camp Staff positions are being filled between now and June.  Individuals 18 years and older are sought to fill the nearly 60 positions available at the camp this coming summer.  Camper materials will be available very soon.  The snow and ice took a toll on our process at the end of December and early January!

BELOW: Anna McLean, 2016 Unit Director and part of the Big Swing and Zip Line crew, prepares a camper for a ride on the “Big Swing”!

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Cathedral CYO 8th Grade Champions 6 Year Sweep!


11-8-spike-cathedral-championsCathedral Coaches: Christian Buchholz & Megan Aguon.  Players: Alison, Cierra, Claire, Meaghan, Scout, Grace, Abigail & Ava.

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St. Cecilia Coaches: Francis Brown, Hannah Brown, Kelly Larson, Mary Massey.  Players: Sydney, Emma, Grace, Mackenzie, Zoe, Emma, Grace, Emelia, Megan, Lauren.

Game Highlights:

St. Cecilia jumped out to a quick lead and Cathedral, five time defending CYO Championship team quickly tied it up at 8-8.  Cathedral began pouring it to St. Cecilia and a timeout was called at 20 – 10 Cathedral.  Not satisfied with a 10 point lead, Cathedral let St. Cecilia back into the game closing in at 18 – 24 Cathedral. A missed spike by St. Cecilia went out of bounds giving Cathedral the first game 25 – 18.

Game 2 Cathedral started strong and never let St. Cecilia back into the game.  The game however was fantastic volleyball played by two teams filled with players who have developed skills to a very high level.  We will see many of them on high school teams next year without a doubt.  Congratulations to the CYO coaches who have worked with the girls over the years to develop them to this level.  A wonderful game to watch! Cathedral 25 – 16.

Holy Trinity Battles to CYO 5th Grade Volleyball Championship


5-5-spike-holy-trinity-championsHoly Trinity Coaches: Lina Kwee Nguyen, Anh Khoa Nguyen.  Players Mikayla, Marjorie, Emmanuelle, Kendra, Lauryn, Kyla, Taylor, Leia, Adrienne, Ericka, Lauren, Mackenzie

6-5-spike-holy-trinity-secondSt. Matthew Coaches: Marisol Levick, Lacey Puncochar.  Players: Sophia, Dominique, Gillian, Mary, Bailey, Elisabeth, Emilia, Adelle, Jaydn, Macie, Annabelle.

Game 1 – St. Matthew took pretty handily 25 – 10. 

Game 2, Holy Trinity tied the score at 11 – 11 then took the lead 19 – 13 before handing the serve over to St. Matthew.  With a score of 24 – 20, Holy Trinity scored the last point and won the second game 25 – 20.

Game 3, Holy Trinity came out to the early lead 3-0 before St. Matthew took over the serving and tied the game at 7-7.  A back and forth tug of war continued to the end of the 15 – 13 Holy Trinity win!

Notable Game Notes: Holy Trinity got into the championship game by beating the two time previous contender, Valley Catholic.  St. Matthew, the 2015 champion beat St. Agatha, the number one seed this year.  Both teams played a tough tournament schedule to make it to the big game!  “Anything can happen at the tournaments!”

St. John Fisher 7th Girls Win the Big One!


The St. John Fisher Girls remember too well the painful loss of 2015 where they were involved in the famous 6x overtime (CYO Record) Championship game with St. Pius X.  Coming into the game this year, SJF had lost twice in regular season to Holy Family.

St. John Fisher came off the bench on fire and ran up a first quarter lead of 9-4.

With 1:15 in the second quarter, Holy Family went ahead for the first time 11-9.

The third quarter was scoreless until the final 3 minutes when Holy Family led a run on points.  St. John Fisher answered back and went ahead on two free throws by Josie Napoli with 1.3 seconds left in the quarter.

With 2:47 remaining in the game, Holy Family tied the game then went ahead on a steal.  The momentum had swung toward Holy Family and the crowd was behind them.  St. John Fisher, not a team to give it up, kept fighting and tied it back up at 17 all.  Molly Grant powered a shot through the hoop with 23 seconds left for 2 points giving SJF the advantage at 19 – 17.

FINAL: 19 – 17 St. John Fisher

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CYO’s St. John Fisher 7th Grade Girls win the City Championship March 13th, 2016

7 Girls City 2016 2nd Holy Family

Holy Family 7th Grade Girls place 2nd in the CYO City Championship March 13, 2016

All Saints Girls win CYO 8th Grade BXB Title


All Saints range of talent from Claire Bass, Anna Patterson and Tiana Abraham made it difficult for St. Anthony to make traction in the CYO City Championship game.  St. Anthony, to their credit hung in and even brought the game within 5 points in the second half.  A great game to watch.

FINAL: 46-31 All Saints

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CYO Club All Saints wins the City Basketball Championship March 13, 2016 for 8th Grade Girls.

8 Girls City 2016 2nd St. Anthony

St. Anthony 8th Grade Girls take second place in the CYO City Basketball Championships 2016

CYO 6 Boys City Championship Nativity vs Valley Catholic


St. Andrew Nativity defeated Valley Catholic twice in regular season play and came out with a quick scoring spurt in the first quarter of the CYO City Championship 6th grade game.  Nativity outscored Valley Catholic 15 – 9 in the first quarter.  In the second quarter, Valley Catholic came back and tied the game 20 – 20 before an end of half run by Nativity finishing the half 30 – 24.

Nativity was quick and able to drive the basket yet Valley Catholic stayed within 5 points through the third quarter through patient set ups and 3 point shooting.  The third quarter ended 41 – 37 Nativity.

The last three minutes of the game was a St. Andrew Nativity runaway.  Valley Catholic could not drop the ball.  The slight height advantage and skill of #30 Dondrae Fair could not be equaled by Valley Catholic, though Valley’s #33, Reynard Wan played a masterful game getting 10+ points for the Valiants with his under the basket power plays.

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St. Andrew Nativity 6th Grade Boys win the 2016 City Championship game against Valley Catholic March 12, 2016

6 Boys City 2016 2nd Valley Catholic

Valley Catholic 6th Grade boys place second in the 2016 CYO City Basketball Championships March 12 against St. Andrew Nativity.

All Saints Girls win the 5th Grade CYO BXB Tournament


The All Saints 5th Grade Girls had height in their favor in the CYO City Championship game against the Cathedral girls (photo unavailable).  The contest was played March 6th at Valley Catholic in Beaverton, OR.  Both teams played a good game and it was enjoyable to watch.

The final score was 30 – 16.

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CYO 3rd Grade Girls City Championship 2016


Christ the King (Milwaukie, OR) and the Madeleine School (Portland, OR) made their way to the big dance Saturday March 5th to compete in the CYO CITY Championship.

Third Grade Basketball is all about dribbling the ball and running… all while controlling the ball and not traveling… while the coaches yell out the play by play for their teams to keep them focused on what they should be doing… while capturing the ball from the other team and wrestling it away then “heaving” a high in the air shot as someone catches it, surprised and shuffles around not quite always sure what to do next.  Bonus is when those baskets connect.

First basket recorded in the second quarter matched by the other team within 30 seconds.  Both teams were then off to the races!

FINAL: Christ the King 21 Madeleine 10 – CONGRATULATIONS to both teams for a fun game to watch.

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CYO Third Grade City Basketball Champions Christ the King Coached by T.R. Riehl

3 Girls City 2016 2nd Madeleine

Third Grade City Championships Second Place Third Grade Girls “THE MADELEINE” Coached by Julie Cusumano.

CYO “Spike” Championship Volleyball Results


November 21, 2015

CYO Volleyball “Spike” Championship Final Results

GREATER PORTLAND, OR AREA

There was an excellent assortment of of CYO Clubs represented in the finals of the 2015 Spike Volleyball Tournament Saturday November 21 as CYO concluded the weeklong tournament. Excitement radiated from all three courts at Valley Catholic School where the higher-level bracket finals were held while all around the City tournament various levels of games concluded. The “Spike” is considered the top level of play while “Rally”, “Ace”, “Gold” and “Silver” also come into play for descending levels of bracket play. All 1300 volleyball players have a place to participate in this season ending tournament.

Jenna Bass, CYO Director of Volleyball and Basketball along with her co-team members from the Portland CYO office, oversaw and presented awards, helped people with bracket questions and answered questions through out the day.

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Jenna Bass (CYO) and Kelly Alfieri (Valley Catholic CYO) work together to oversee the CYO Spike Volleyball Tournament Championship Finals

 

The Spike Tournament started off with third graders from Portland Christian defeating St. Joseph, Vancouver, in a delightful contest that was mainly about serving. The girls did however, have a few good rallies and they were fun to watch in their matching socks and hair ribbons!

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The Portland Christian Third Grade Girls place first in the 2015 CYO Championship Volleyball Tournament “The Spike”

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St. Joseph (Vancouver, WA) Third Grade Girls place second in the 2015 CYO Championship Volleyball Tournament “The Spike”

The fourth graders found Valley Catholic pitted against St. Matthew for the championship. St. Matthew, a new team to volleyball as they had not played third grade, selected the lower level of play to start out in. They handily defeated most all of their competitors and found themselves seeded into the top division tournament after the play in games. Valley Catholic played at the upper level of play all season and made it a competitive contest,though losing 22 – 25 and 21-25.

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St. Matthew (Hillsboro) Fourth Grade Girls place first in the 2015 CYO Championship Volleyball Tournament “The Spike”

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The Valley Catholic (Beaverton) Fourth Grade Girls place second in the 2015 CYO Championship Volleyball Tournament “The Spike”

Fifth grade action found All Saints and St. Ignatius battling it out and that they did with a contest going to three games with the second game going into overtime with All Saints winning 30 – 28. St. Ignatius, who had not won a contest all season against All Saints took the first game 25 – 22. They lead the second game all the way to the end but could not put All Saints away. All Saints scrapped and battled and would not be denied! After they took the second game the momentum shifted and St. Ignatius could not get back into the game. All Saints took the third game 15 – 11. It was definitely one of the “games of the day” which in my opinion is pretty good for fifth graders!

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The All Saints (Portland) Fifth Grade Girls place first in the 2015 CYO Championship Volleyball Tournament “The Spike”

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The St. Ignatius (Portland) Fifth Grade Girls place second in the 2015 CYO Championship Volleyball Tournament “The Spike”

The Sixth grade contest between St. Joseph and Cathedral was also very exciting and St. Joseph found their victory at this level. Tyra Schaub #32 was an all around power player for St. Joseph who made the difference at all levels. Cathedral played a very strong game coached by multi champion Fergie Bush but her team did not have the horsepower to stop St. Joseph today. Cathedral, to their credit, kept the game very competitive.

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The St. Joseph (Vancouver, WA) Sixth Grade Girls place first in the 2015 CYO Championship Volleyball Tournament “The Spike” with Cathedral School coming in Second.

In seventh grade play, Cathedral and St. Thomas More played two close contests 25 – 18 and 25 – 23 where St. Thomas More kept the games close all the way from beginning to end.

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The Cathedral (Portland) Seventh Grade Girls place first in the 2015 CYO Championship Volleyball Tournament “The Spike”

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The St. Thomas More (Portland) Seventh Grade Girls place second in the 2015 CYO Championship Volleyball Tournament “The Spike”

The final contest of the day, the eighth grade, saw St. Agatha against St. John Fisher. Two teams filled with great players for sure. St. Agatha, a multi-repeat participant at the championship level knew “what, where and when!” Saint Agatha won the contest 25–11 and 25–15.

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The St. Agatha (Portland) Eighth Grade Girls place first in the 2015 CYO Championship Volleyball Tournament “The Spike”

Gift of Corn a Treat and Blessing at Camp Howard


Thank you, Margie Haener Barnett for the thoughtful gift of corn for all of the campers last week and family campers this weekend!  It was so greatly appreciated by everyone who was present!   The corn was prepared in the Camp Howard propane-heated wok and served up with hamburgers last night at family camp.  It was a major hit!

Karen von Borstel and Sr. Krista von Borstel open the lid to the wok to show the corn being cooked for Family Campers!

Karen von Borstel and Sr. Krista von Borstel open the lid to the wok to show the corn being cooked for Family Campers!